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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24126922">The Sound of A Million Dreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyaprillyn/pseuds/simplyaprillyn'>simplyaprillyn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Glee, One Tree Hill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:16:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24126922</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyaprillyn/pseuds/simplyaprillyn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A glee club assignment takes Finn Hudson on a path that he never would have expected, as he finds out just who the new basketball coach from North Carolina really is. Glee senior year AU (mostly)/OTH post-college AU</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Brooke Davis/Lucas Scott, Haley James Scott/Nathan Scott, Rachel Berry/Finn Hudson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Sound of A Million Dreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <b>August</b> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>"Shalom, blogosphere. Jacob Ben Israel here bringing you the latest from the halls of McKinley High School as another year is upon us. It's senior year for most of our big, gay, glee club members and the stakes are higher than ever. Who will succeed and who will fail?"</p><p>Finn Hudson slams the door of his locker shut and sighs heavily, as he finishes placing the last of his belongings for the day in his back pack. He can't help but laugh as he sees Jacob make his way over to where he is standing. He <em>should</em> be used to this by now; it was something that Jacob has been doing for the past four years, ever since they began as freshman at McKinley. This morning — this year, actually — was different. It was the last <em>first morning</em> of high school that Finn would ever experience. It was bittersweet in a way, because <em>this was it.</em> This time next year, he would be in college or something and hopefully majoring in something cool like music or whatever. Finn shakes his head, as he sees the kid with the large Afro waltzing towards him like a man on a mission. Straightening his bright red letterman jacket, he shakes his head. The truth was, Finn has no idea what the hell he was going to do once this school year was over. For the most part, high school had been really <em>awesome</em>. The thought of leaving McKinley and doing something different scared the shit out of him. His dreams — ones that he was way too scared to tell someone, even his girlfriend Rachel — seemed so out of reach.</p><p>"Finn Hudson," Jacob says, as he stands inches from him and places both hands tightly around the neck of the microphone. "Mediocre quarterback; mediocre glee club lead. You're a senior this year," he continues, as Finn smiles into the camera lens only inches from him at this point. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>The high school gym has become his new sacred place; something he would have never imagined months ago. Finn always imagined something this important would take place in the choir room.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He takes a seat in the middle of the wooden bleachers and sighs, as he removes the wrinkled white envelope from the pocket of his khaki dress pants. Thinking back to what this year was and what it meant to him sends him into a frenzy — enough to make his head hurt. Finn removes the red graduation cap from atop his head and loosens the black tie around his neck. He smiles, looking up at the banner now hung in the gym, a reminder of everything that he not only gained, but also lost in a few month's time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Did you open it yet?" he hears the man ask, as he makes his way into the gym.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn shakes his head as the two lock eyes. "No, not yet. I promised I'd wait for you." He doesn't know what to make of this moment. The envelope — the one that held his entire future — had been delivered to his home a few weeks ago. Finn knew that everything was on the line this time and that nothing more could be done. Of the handful of colleges Finn applied to, this one was his dream school: NYU. He has dreamt about this moment all year, and the fact that it was happening right now, with him by his side made everything feel that much more real. He had been turned down by every other school he applied to. This one shouldn't be any different.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But to Finn, it felt different. New York was truly what he wanted. He wasn't destined to be a Lima loser.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'm glad you did," the man says, as he takes a seat next to Finn. He runs his hands through his sandy blonde hair and smiles a bit, glancing down at the envelope on the empty bleacher in front of them. "You do know it's not going to open itself, right?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn shakes his head once more. "I can't do it, man. I'm too chicken to do it. What if this is it? What if NYU rejected me? I can't stay here for forever."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The man next to him sighs, and wraps his arm around Finn's broad shoulders. "You can't think like that. You have to seize this moment. No matter what that letter says, I'm still proud of you. I love you, Finn."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn nods, as he looks to the man next to him. Locking eyes again, he offers a soft smile, and says, "I love you, too."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The man clears his throat. "Do you want me to like, count to three or something?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn laughs, and picks up the envelope. "No, I got it," he says, holding it firmly in his shaking hands. He can feel his body begin to tremble. His leg begins to shake in front of him, as the man places his hand on it to stop the anxiousness coming from Finn's body. "Nervous habit. Sorry."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Don't be," the man replies. "I do that, too."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn takes a deep breath and fist bumps the air, as he breaks the seal of the envelope containing his future. Nervously, his eyes begin to glance over the content's words; the only one that he needed to see was congratulations. "Oh my God."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"What does it say?" the man asks, as Finn passes him the letter, too wound up to even tell him anything. The man smiles at him, beginning to get choked up a little bit, as his eyes dance over the words, just as Finn's had prior. "I am so proud of you."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-</em>
</p><p>"I'm so glad you asked, Jacob. This year, I will be applying to a <em>New York</em> based performing arts school."</p><p>Rachel Berry has known what she has wanted to do since she was a toddler. The dream, the <em>only</em> dream that she had ever had, was to be on Broadway.</p><p>In good faith, she couldn't just go to New York on a dream. She had to go there for a purpose. And her purpose was to leave this town in the dust, and never look back.</p><p>Ever since she saw <em>Funny Girl</em> with her dads for the first time in their living room, she knew that she was meant to be on stage performing. It was the only thing that she was <em>any</em> good at. Though the spotlight hasn't always treated her kindly at McKinley, her goal was to prove anyone that underestimated her wrong. The only way that she was going to do that was if she got into her dream school and continued to work her ass off.</p><p>Dreams don't always come easy, and they shouldn't. A dream to some is something so out of reach — but Rachel was so close to hers that she could taste it. Of course, this school year stood in the way. She was going to make the most of it.</p><p>"NYADA. Have you ever heard of it, Jacob?"</p><p>"It's only one of the most prestigious in the country for performing arts. What makes you think they're going to take two washed-up performers from Ohio and move them all the way to the Big Apple?"</p><p>"For your information," Kurt Hummel begins, as he folds his hands and places them on front of him on the piano, "they accept 20 students every year. Rachel and I have a plan and I just know that we are going to get in. Our dreams are going to happen. We'll move into a little eclectic apartment in the city," Kurt says, as he lifts his head to lock eyes with Rachel.</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>"Welcome home, my beautiful bride."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Rachel could never get sick of him referring to her as his bride. She couldn't believe it. All of her dreams had come true at only eighteen years old. Thinking back on this past school year to now, everything seemed so different. But different in a good way. She had learned, really, the difference in who her true friends were and those that needed to be left behind like the Lima losers that they are. She had finally made it to the big city, with the only person that she ever needed, right beside her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You can put me down now," she laughs, as he carries her over the threshold of their shoebox sized apartment. "You know," she says, tugging on the collar of his Abercrombie and Fitch polo, "you don't have to carry me in everywhere we go. We've been married for..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"A month and a half," he says, smiling down at her. "I know, I know. But we're still in our honeymoon phase. And I want to make the best of it. We go back to being old, boring, married adults in a few weeks and I want to enjoy the time that we have together before our lives get crazy."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"We're always going to make time for each other," Rachel says to him. "When I told you my vows I meant every single word. For better or for worse, right?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"In busy and in hectic should have been on there," he chuckles. "I know. I'm always going to make time for you, too."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Are you sad to be here instead of Lima?" she asks, kissing him quickly on the lips. "Are you really sure that this is what you want?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"This," he says, placing his hands on her shoulder. "Is everything that I could have dreamed of and more. I am in love with you, Rachel Berry. And I always will be."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Behind them, Rachel hears another man clear his throat, as he places one last box in the threshold. "Alright guys. That's the last box. You're officially all moved into your own place."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kurt Hummel thought that he had everything this year. A best friend who shared in the same New York dream, a hunky boyfriend who he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with, and a great group of friends that he would miss so much once he moved to the big city.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>As he stares out the window of the small store, he takes in the quiet, Ohio town. It's settled down for the day at this point. Judging by the darkening sky, the rainstorm that was predicted earlier in the week would be touching down at any moment.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He had wished that the storm would knock out the power, so he didn't have to work for the next few hours.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He needed a break. He was emotionally exhausted. He knew what today was. They would be in their new apartment, getting settled in, and he who shall not be named would be helping them do all of it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Life was simpler before him. Thinking back, Kurt never should have encouraged anything that had happened.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He feels at fault that his desire to make other people happy got in the way of his dream. It should have been him moving into that apartment with Rachel today.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The phone line blinks red in front of him. He sighs, taking a sip of his vanilla latte, and burning the roof of his mouth a bit in the process.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Shit," he mumbles under his breath, as he presses the button for the phone line to go live. "Clothes Over Bro's, this is Kurt."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-</em>
</p><p>"West End, Studio 54... Tony by 25," Rachel gushes, as she moves closer to the camera.</p><p>"Married by 30... <em>legally</em>," Kurt says in a sing-song voice, as he sticks up his ring finger.</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>"You're sure you want to go through with this, Blaine? You want to end things for good? After all that we've been through...?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I just can't see my life with you anymore, Kurt. I'm so sorry."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-</em>
</p><p>"I'm really excited about this year," Finn says, as he zips up his book bag and places it over his left shoulder. "I think it's going to be a lot of... fun."</p><p>-</p><p>
  <em>"Are you sure it's positive?" Finn asks, as he places the white stick in his hand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-</em>
</p><p>"Have you guys heard about the new basketball coach?" Jacob asks into the camera, as he makes his way out of the choir room. "Word on the street is, he's a transfer from one of the Carolina's and he means business. He's easy on the eyes, too... so I've heard from a few of the female students here. A total <em>hunk</em>, ready to break hearts all over these halls." Jacob flashes the camera over to a man standing in the corner, outside of Principal Figgins office. "Senior year, McKinley High, starts today. Will you make the most of it?"</p>
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